1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a folding ball trolley and, especially, to a ball trolley that can be minimized in volume when folded.
2. Description of the Prior Arts
A ball trolley is common in sports arenas, such as a gymnasium, for containing multiple and various kinds of balls, such as volleyballs, basketballs and so on. A user can conveniently move the ball trolley with the balls in it, or the user can take out the balls continually from the ball trolley for use.
With reference to FIG. 11, a first conventional ball trolley has a folding frame 81, a bag 82 and multiple resilient elements 83. The frame 81 has four stand rods 811, four wheels 813 and multiple connecting rods 812. The wheels 813 are respectively mounted on bottom ends of the stand rods 811 for moving the first conventional ball trolley. A top end of each connecting rod 812 pivotally connects to a top end of one of the stand rods 811, while the bottom end of each connecting rod 812 pivotally connects to another stand rod 811 in an axially moveable manner. The bag 82 is mounted around the frame 81 and has a room 821 and a top opening to contain the balls. The resilient element 83 is mounted between the top end of one of the stand rods 811 and the bottom end of the connecting rod 812 connecting to the same stand rod 811, such that the resilient element 83 pulls up the bottom end of the connecting rod 812 to brace outward the two adjacent stand rods 811.
However, said conventional ball trolley has the following shortcomings. First, the frame 81 is disposed inside the bag 82, such that the frame 81 may scrape the balls or the user's hands stretching into the room 821 to take out the ball. Second, the top opening of the room 821 is so small that the user cannot take out the balls conveniently. Third, the room 821 is too deep, which is also another reason that the user cannot take out the balls conveniently.
With reference to FIG. 12, to solve the shortcomings mentioned above, a second conventional ball trolley is provided. The four connecting rods 912 are inclined and protrude out of the top ends of the stand rods 911. The bag 92 is mounted around the protruding connecting rods 912 to form a shallower room 921 with a bigger opening. Besides, the connecting rods 912 connect to an outside surface of the bag 92 to keep the ball and the hands from being scraped.
However, the second conventional ball trolley still has the flowing shortcomings. First, with reference to FIG. 13, the second conventional ball trolley has multiple bracing rods 914. Two of the bracing rods 914 are mounted between two adjacent connecting rods 912, and are pivotally connecting and engaged with each other. When the second conventional ball trolley is folding, the two bracing rods 914 are pushed upward first, such that the hands of the user may get clamped by the bracing rods 914 and the connecting rods 912. Second, with reference to FIG. 14, after the second conventional ball trolley is folded, the connecting rods 912 are substantially straight upright and protrude upward, which increases the volume of the second conventional ball trolley to occupy more space in transportation and storage. Third, with reference to FIG. 12, the top opening of the bag 92 is wider, but the room 921 is shallower, and the bag 92 is trapezoidal in cross section. As a result, the room 921 of the bag 92 is still not big enough in its capacity for containing balls.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a folding ball trolley having minimized volume to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.